The clocks were developed after careful study of those created by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805–1871), the French magician and clock maker.

The catalog explains that each hand is attached to its own rock crystal disc, and the discs are driven by worm screws attached to two lateral axles. These mechanisms are hidden inside the frame, and the movement that rotates the axles is concealed in the base. It’s the discs—one for hours, the other for minutes—that move, rather than the hands themselves.